5 Eye-Opening Reasons You Need to Hire a Professional Web Designer

There are over one billion websites out there. Some were designed by novices while others were created by professional web designers.

To be fair, not all websites are for business purposes. If it’s a personal site put up for reasons other than monetary, it really doesn’t matter how well the site functions. And it also doesn’t really matter how great it looks, either.

But for those websites out there who are trying to earn a buck, content and visuals are everything. This is one of the plethoras of reasons why hiring a professional web designer is a must for business owners.

If you’re still not convinced, keep reading. We’re sharing with you the five biggest reasons to hire a web designer.

50% of Australian businesses do not have a website. Yet, 83% of consumers feel it’s extremely important to be able to locate a business online.

And if that’s not enough to convince you, 62% of your possible customers won’t do business with you if you don’t have a website.

While it’s vital to have a web presence, don’t forget that a web site now acts like your storefront. Imagine owning a shoe store and your competition is across the street.

Obviously, you’re going to do everything you can to make your shop look more inviting and appealing to potential customers. The same is true online.

Customers are increasingly savvy. They want websites that do the following:

Most business owners who use a DIY web design are doing themselves a disservice. Unless you’re a marketing professional, there’s little chance you’re offering your customers the online experience they’ve come to expect.

And since it’s easy to click to another site, when customers can’t find what they’re looking for, they’re happy to move on. What you don’t know about marketing means you’ competition wins every time.

In 2017, one in four Australians were victims of cybercrime. As long as you’re online, you’re at risk.

Most small business owners assume that no one is interested in their small site. That couldn’t be further from the truth.

Cyber criminals look for low-hanging fruit. Those sites that are easy to hack because the site’s owner used something like “123456” as their password.

If your site gets hacked, your personal information and credit card information were just stolen. Hackers can take that information and destroy your credit or use personal information to blackmail you.

If your site keeps any type of information on your customers, they’re at risk too. Hiring a web developer means they’ll put a high priority on you and your customer’s privacy and security.

They’ll ensure your site has an SSL certificate so customers know you take their security seriously. Hiring a web developer also means you’ll always have access to the most up-to-date security measures.

The problem with being hacked is that you often have no idea until six months after the attack or later. By that time, the damage is done.

And since 43% of all cyber-attacks are aimed at small businesses, you need to arm yourself with as many types of online security as you can. Especially since the average cost of a cyber-attack on a small business is $10,000.

DIY web design often means you designed and built the site all by yourself, which means you only have access to what marketing strategies you already know.

When you work with a professional design firm, you have access to a team of marketing experts. There are a lot of components that determine what makes a great website.

Each marketing expert at a web design firm has their own area of specialty such as:

Also, sometimes business owners are a little too close to their business. It’s hard for them to view the business with an outside perspective.

A team of professionals offers their own unique talents, skills, and points of view which can help you create a website that appeals to a larger audience.

Content is more than just the written word. Content includes videos and photography as well.

But what you write is equally, if not more important, than the images you display. It’s vital you place the right keywords on your site so search engines and customers find you online more easily.

Content also informs the customer to help them decide whether to purchase your product or service. And content tells the customer the steps they need to take to make a purchase, sign up for your newsletter or schedule an appointment with you.

How your site is designed and laid out makes a bigger difference than you realize. Even the colours you choose to use on your website take on a whole new meaning.

A website is your first and only chance to make a lasting impression on your customers. It’s a chance to tell your customers who you are and what you’re about.

When there are 50 other companies selling the same products or services you are, it’s vital to find a way to stand out from the crowd. A website presence helps, but it’s not enough.

Part of your website’s job is to stand apart from your competition. You want to begin attracting brand ambassadors to your site. These are your most loyal customers who feel they have an affiliation with your company.

Have a team come together to help you create a strong, lasting impression that is nearly impossible to do on your own.

Search engine optimization (SEO) is several practices that help increase the quality and quantity of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.

There are several factors that go into SEO:

Not everyone is your perfect customer. If a search engine mistakenly points to your business as the place to go for surfboards when you sell computers, it’s a huge waste.

SEO helps you find and attract your target market who are genuinely interested in the products and services you sell.

Once you’ve used SEO to help you find your target audience, you want to increase the chances of more of them finding you. SEO helps create better search engine results pages (SERPs).

The more easily customers find you doing an online search on sites like Google, the higher amount of traffic you’ll receive.

While you can use PPC (Pay-Per-Click), it’s an ongoing cost you pay. When you hire a web design team, they create a website designed to attract organic traffic.

Organic traffic is any traffic you don’t have to pay for.

SEO helps bring your website to the top of search engine results. Most consumers won’t bother going past the second page if they even get that far.

Instead, most consumers look at what the top rated site is and click on it. They do so because they trust search engine rankings.

That trust also extends to a consumer promoting your site on social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

SEO also helps ensure your customers have a good experience on your site and also increases your site’s usability.

Most Australians who have online access have used the Internet for a purchasing activity. In fact, one-in-four Australians purchase something online on a weekly basis.

According to 2017 forecasts, 2019 marks the year when 89% of the Australian population owns a smartphone. And consumers are doing more than checking their email.

They’re also using their phones and tablets to shop for products and services. If your website isn’t responsive or at least mobile-friendly, you’re missing out on a lot of potential business.

Especially since you can optimize responsive and mobile-friendly sites for SEO.

A responsive website adapts to whatever size screen the user is looking at your site on. This type of site makes it just as easy for a customer to find information on your site and even make purchases without missing a beat.

A mobile-friendly site functions the same way on all devices, but they don’t adapt as well to smaller sizes. Certain features, such as navigation drop-downs, may end up more difficult to use.

Most business owners have no idea about mobile-friendly or responsive websites. And they certainly don’t have the working knowledge or background to create one.

A professional web design team understands how your customers live. They adapt your website to make it easy and fun to shop with you.

Now that you know you need to hire a web designer, it’s time to start looking. Make sure you find a company that understands your business and communicates well with you.

And don’t forget to take a look at examples of their work. You need to make sure you love what they do before you hire them.

We’d love to help you design your website, whether it’s a new site or an existing one. We know you’ll love what we can do. Click here to see some examples of our work.